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Harry Maguire has opened up about the excitement that Cristiano Ronaldo's sensational return brought to Manchester United, while the English defender also expressed his disappointment over the Portuguese star’s eventual exit.
Cristiano Ronaldo's incredible career
Ronaldo first made waves at Old Trafford under Sir Alex Ferguson between 2003 and 2009, before making a then-record £80 million move to Real Madrid.
The forward then continued to make an incredible career with Real Madrid securing two La Liga titles, four domestic trophies and four Champions League titles.
On a personal level, Ronaldo had won four of his five Ballon d'Or titles before making a move to Juventus in 2018. So when news broke of his return to Old Trafford three years later, United fans were thrilled, but things didn’t quite go as planned. Despite scoring 18 Premier League goals during the 2021/22 season under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and later Ralf Rangnick, United finished a disappointing sixth.
The now 40-year-old Ronaldo reportedly grew frustrated with the team’s performances. After falling out of favour with new manager Erik ten Hag, he openly shared his frustrations in an interview with Piers Morgan. The fallout from that interview led to Manchester United mutually terminating his contract in November 2022.
"It was just so disappointing how it ended and how we couldn't find a way to perform with him in the team. He was performing, he was scoring goals, it was crazy. I don't know how many he scored that year. We were rubbish and he was still scoring goals, so it just shows how good he is.
“But we just couldn't find a way to... all our system under Ole was about being on the front foot, being aggressive. Pressing, it was like a pressing machine. We weren't the best team, we actually finished third and then second. We probably didn't have the best players."
Ronaldo is currently playing for Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia and in June, has extended his contract by two more years—keeping him at the club until 2027.
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